Small group share a joint for J-Day

Motueka was one of six centres throughout New Zealand where cannabis users marked J-Day, the annual day of protest against the drug's prohibition, by sharing a joint in public.

About 10 people attended Saturday's "potnic" in the Motueka Museum courtyard on the appropriately named High St. The protest was part of an annual event promoted by the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

The pro-marijuana arguments were in plentiful supply among the protesters who spent the afternoon relaxing in the courtyard.

Imagine the boost to tourism, Motueka's Corey Hulbert said, if you could buy and smoke marijuana in cafes like you could in Amsterdam.

"The laws over here don't seem to work. The laws they have over there definitely do work."

Mr Hulbert, who said he used the drug for medicinal use, also believed pot was a better alternative than alcohol.

`I have noticed that people who smoke marijuana are a lot calmer than people who go out drinking."

NORML's J-Day celebrations mainly took place in the country's main centres, but Motueka's appearance in the line-up was of no surprise to resident Sam Mack.

"When I moved down from Auckland a year ago we were told that (Motueka) was the cannabis capital. I was like, sweet."

Senior Sergeant Grant Andrews said the police were not aware the potnic was taking place, and received no information or complaints from the public. He said they had made arrests at similar events in the past. "We certainly wouldn't be providing anyone with the opportunity to smoke cannabis."

- © Fairfax NZ News